Connector for use with refrigerated containers

ABSTRACT

A connector nozzle or coupling device for connecting a transportable container to a supply of fluid under pressure and in particular for connecting refrigerated containers with a refrigeration system, the coupling being formed of at least two layers of bristles having an impermeable membrane sandwiched therebetween, said bristles and membrane being clamped at one end and engageable around a duct leading from the refrigeration system and the free end of the thus formed coupling being arranged to abut around an aperture in the container, the arrangement being such that the bristles will automatically accommodate movement of the container at the coupling station and still maintain a seal with the coupling and will automatically effect the seal with the container when the container is delivered to the coupling station, the coupling automatically defecting a seal and not requiring any form of power operated device to move it between a coupled position and an uncoupled position.

United States Patent [72] inventor Rupert Munton Croydon, England 21AppLNo. 865,433 [22] Filed Oct. 10,1969 [45] Patented Feb. 16,1971 [73]Assignee Shipowners Refrigerated Cargo Research Association London,England [32] Priority 0ct.8, 1968 [33] Great Britain [31] 49875/68 [54]CONNECTOR FOR USE WITH REFRIGERATED CONTAINERS 6 Claims, 2 Drawing Figs.

[52] U.S.Cl. 285/9; 277/237; 15/180 [51] lnt.Cl. F16l25/00 [50]FleldofSearch 285/9;-

277/(lnquired); 15/ 180 [56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS1,989,131 1/1935 Dodge 285/9 1,993,763 3/1935 Touchstone 15/180 PrimaryExaminer-David J. Williamowsky Assistant ExaminerWayne L. SheddAttorney-Baldwin, Wight, Diller & Brown ABSTRACT: A connector nozzle orcoupling device for connecting a transportable container to a supply offluid under pressure and in particular for connecting refrigeratedcontainers with a refrigeration system, the coupling being formed of atleast two layers of bristles having an impermeable membrane sandwichedtherebetween, said bristles and membrane being clamped at one end andengageable around a duct leading from the refrigeration system and thefree end of the thus formed coupling being arranged to abut around anaperture in the container, the arrangement being such that the bristleswill automatically accommodate movement of the container at the couplingstation and still maintain a seal with the coupling and willautomatically effect the seal with the container when the container isdelivered to the coupling station, the coupling automatically defectinga seal and not requiring any form of power operated device to move itbetween a coupled position and an uncoupled position.

CONNECTOR FOR USE WITH REFRIGERATED CONTAINERS through the container tokeep the contents of the container at the required temperature.

Most existing couplings'depend upon hydraulic or pneumatic means orother forms of motivation to move the coupling from an extended positionwhere it engages around an aperture in a wall of the container toprovide communication between fixed ducting of a refrigerating systemand the container, to a withdrawn position; The disadvantage ofproviding hydraulic or pneumatic means, or other forms of motivation tomove the coupling to its withdrawn position is that such devices needservicing, which is time consuming and expensive, and may be impossibleif a container is in position and the coupling connected toit, Hence, ifa breakdown occurs, the coupling may never function properly and thecontents of the container will heat. r

With the majority'of these existing couplings, leak-free circulation ofair is ensured by the provision of a seal which engages with a preparedsurface on the container and a flexible but impermeable connectionbetween a plate carrying the said seal and a second plate connected tothe fixed ducting. When the coupling is disengaged and in its withdrawnposition, sufficient clearance is establishedbetween the seal and thecontainer face to enable the transportable container to be loaded or offloaded without constraint or contact with the seal.

A The present invention relates to a connector nozzle or coupling devicewhich does not require any pneumatic or hydraulic device or other formof motivation to operate it.

According to the present invention, we provide a connector nozzle orcoupling for connecting a piped source of fluid r supply with anaperture in acontainer situated at a coupling station, the connectornozzle or coupling being of sleeve like configuration and having a wallstructure formed of strands of resiliently deformable material arrangedin at least two layers, between which is an impermeable membrane, thewhole being bonded at one end, by which, when in use, it is connected tothe piped source of fluid supply, theiother or free end serving to makesealing contact with the face of the container around the aperture,regardless of the exactposition of the container at the couplingstation. l

Preferably, only two layers of strands of resiliently defonnablematerial are provided and said one end of the two layers and themembrane are clamped together and are adapted firmly to be connected influidtight engagement with the free end of a length of ducting leadingto thefluid supply.

The impermeable membrane may comprise a sleeve of rubber or plasticsmaterial and the strands of resiliently deformable material may comprisebristles which may be either natural or of synthetic fibre or a mixtureof both. The said one end of the assembly thus formed may be secured, ifdesired, by means of an adhesive in a crimped annular housing member ofU-shaped section adapted to engage around the end of the ducting.Alternatively. each of the layers of bristles may be mounted in anannular crimp ring of U-section and the two crimped rings with theimpermeable material sandwiched therebetween may be firmly located inthe crimped annular housing.

Preferably the impermeable membrane is provided with excess material byfolding it upon itself to give it a substantially double layerthickness.

A preferred embodiment of the invention is now described with referenceto the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a scrap perspective view, in section, of part of a connectornozzle or coupling; and

FIG. v2 is a sectional view of part of a containena connector nozzle orcoupling and part of -a ducting leading to a permanent refrigerationsystem.

Referring to the drawings, the connector nozzle or coupling (hereinafterreferred to as a coupling) is generally indicated at l and is arrangedto provide fluid communication between the free end of a length ofducting 3 leading to a refrigeration system (not shown) and an aperture5 in the sidewall 7 of a container. The refrigeration system could, forexample, be provided in the hold of a ship in which case the containerwould be arranged to be-located by vertical guides at a containercoupling station and the coupling station would be as sociated with twolengths of ducting, one leading from and the other returning to therefrigeration system, and hence two couplings would be required.

The coupling has a wall structure which comprises an outer sleevelikelayer of bristles 9 (FIG. 1), an intermediate layer of impermeablematerial such as a sleeve of rubber or plastics material 11, and aninner sleevelike layer of bristles 13. The

impermeable sleeve or membrane is convoluted or folded in zigzagformation to give it a substantially double thickness and enable it toflex with the bristle layers.

In one embodiment, each layer of bristles is clamped at one end in acrimp ring 15 or alternatively secured by means of adhesive in a crimpring and the impermeable membrane is sandwiched between the two crimprings 15 and the three layers are then firmly located in acrimpedannular housing 17 of U- shaped cross section. It will beappreciated, however, that the three layers may be a bound together byany other known method. The housing 17 is adapted firmly to be securedin airtight relationship with the free end of the ducting 3. Thebristles may either be natural or made of synthetic fibre, and in thepreferred arrangement each layer comprises a mixture of nylon andhorsehair bristles.

It will be appreciated that by employing a coupling of theabove-described type, there is no need to provide any operating meansfor the coupling to move it between operative and withdrawn positions,in view of the flexibility and natural resiliency of the coupling. Ifthe couplings are provided at container coupling stations in the hold ofa ship, and project slightly into the path of the movement of containersthrough said stations, it will be appreciated that once a container islowered into its respective station, the bristles will deform to allowthe container to be correctly located and will automatically be biasedby their natural resiliency against the sidewall of the container.Because the coupling stations are located correctly with respect to theapertures in the sidewall of the container, the coupling willautomatically providea passage between the aperture 5 in the containerand the ducting 3.

The ducting 3 may be of larger size than the aperture 5 in the sidewallof a container and the ducting centerline-may be vertically offset withrespect to the aperture to compensate for the deflection of the couplinglayers 9, ll, 13, (as is generally indicated in FIG. 2) which deflectionwould result when the container is loaded into a stowage positiondefined by suitable guides. Although FIG. 2 shows how the coupling wouldbe deflected downwardly when the container is loaded vertically it willbe appreciated that the containers may be loaded 1 horizontally in whichcase, the coupling bristles would be deflected laterally.

It will thus be appreciated that an efficient, substantially impermeableautomatic coupling is provided, and regardless of the exact position ofthe container with respect to the coupling at the coupling station, aseal will be effected. Furthermore, the seal will be maintained even ifthe container shifts slightly in any direction.

It will be understood'that the coupling could equally easily be used onboard trucks, railway wagons, airplanes, hovercraft, or even on a quay,to connect ducting of a refrigeration system, or for that matter, anyother source of fluid supply, to a container.

. Although the preferred embodiment has two layers of bristles spacedapart by a membrane, it will beappreciated that three or more layers ofbristles could be provided, each spaced apart by a membrane.Furthermore, instead of using bristles, strips of resiliently deformablematerial of any cross section could be used.

lclaim:

l. A coupling for connecting a piped source of fluid supply with anaperture in a container situated at a coupling station, said couplingbeing of sleevelike configuration and having a wall structure formed ofstrands of resiliently deformable material arranged in at least twolayers, and an impermeable membrane arranged between said layers, meansbonding said two layers and said impermeable membrane together at oneend, which end, when in use, is connected to said piped source of fluidsupply, and the other end of said wall structure serving to make sealingcontact with the face of the container around the aperture therein,regardless of the exact position of the container at the couplingstation.

2. A coupling according to claim 1, including a clamping device to clamptogether said two layers of strands of resiliently deformable materialand said membrane, said clamping device being adapted firmly to beconnected in fluid tight engagement with the free end of a length ofducting leading to said fluid supply.

3. A coupling according to claim 1, in which said impermeable membranecomprises a sleeve of plastics material and in which said strands ofresiliently deformable material comprise a mixture of nylon bristles andhorse hair bristles.

4. A coupling according to claim 1, including a crimped annular housing,an annular crimp ring of U-section for each layer of bristles, said oneend of each layer being adhesively secured in said crimp ring and saidtwo crimp rings, with said impermeable material sandwiched therebetween,being firmly located in said crimped annular housing.

5. A coupling according to claim 1, in which said impermeable membraneis folded upon itself in zigzag formation to give it a substantiallydouble layer thickness.

6. A coupling for connecting a supply of fluid under pressure with anaperture in a transportable container arranged at a coupling station,said coupling comprising a sleevelike body having a wall structureformed of two layers of resiliently deformable bristles and animpermeable membrane sandwiched between said layers, means bonding saidlayers and membrane together at one end, said means being adapted to beconnected in sealing engagement with said fluid supply and the other endof said body being arranged to lie in abutting engagement with a sealingsurface surrounding said aperture, the arrangement being such that saidcontainer can be moved over and past said bristles into and out of saidstation and said bristles will deform to permit such movement and saidbristles, in use, accommodating limited movement of the container withrespect to the supply, in every plane, yet still maintaining a seal withthe container.

1. A coupling for connecting a piped source of fluid supply with anaperture in a container situated at a coupling station, said couplingbeing of sleevelike configuration and having a wall structure formed ofstrands of resiliently deformable material arranged in at least twolayers, and an impermeable membrane arranged between said layers, meansbonding said two layers and said impermeable membrane together at oneend, which end, when in use, is connected to said piped source of fluidsupply, and the other end of said wall structure serving to make sealingcontact with the face of the container around the aperture therein,regardless of the exact position of the container at the couplingstation.
 2. A coupling according to claim 1, including a clamping deviceto clamp together said two layers of strands of resiliently deformablematerial and said membrane, said clamping device being adapted firmly tobe connected in fluid tight engagement with the free end of a length ofducting leading to said fluid supply.
 3. A coupling according to claim1, in which said impermeable membrane comprises a sleeve of plasticsmaterial and in which said strands of resiliently deformable materialcomprise a mixture of nylon bristles and horse hair bristles.
 4. Acoupling according to claim 1, including a crimped annular housing, anannular crimp ring of U-section for each layer of bristles, said one endof each layer being adhesively secured in said crimp ring and said twocrimp rings, with said impermeable material sandwiched therebetween,being firmly located in said crimped annular housing.
 5. A couplingaccording to claim 1, in which said impermeable membrane is folded uponitself in zigzag formation to give it a substantially double layerthickness.
 6. A coupling for connecting a supply of fluid under pressurewith an apeRture in a transportable container arranged at a couplingstation, said coupling comprising a sleevelike body having a wallstructure formed of two layers of resiliently deformable bristles and animpermeable membrane sandwiched between said layers, means bonding saidlayers and membrane together at one end, said means being adapted to beconnected in sealing engagement with said fluid supply and the other endof said body being arranged to lie in abutting engagement with a sealingsurface surrounding said aperture, the arrangement being such that saidcontainer can be moved over and past said bristles into and out of saidstation and said bristles will deform to permit such movement and saidbristles, in use, accommodating limited movement of the container withrespect to the supply, in every plane, yet still maintaining a seal withthe container.